ARTICLES ABOUT SALARY CAP BY DATE - PAGE 3

(Reuters) - The Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks made two "extremely tough decisions" when they released wide receiver Sidney Rice and defensive end Red Bryant on Friday to create additional salary cap space. With free agency fast approaching on March 11, Seattle offloaded Rice, who was due $8.5 million in base salary for 2014, and Bryant, who was set to earn $4.5 million. Rice, 27, has been plagued with assorted injuries since signing a five-year contract with the team in 2011 while Bryant, 29, has played limited snaps in his role as a run-stuffing defensive end. "We want to thank both Red and Sidney for their effort, commitment and contribution to the Seattle Seahawks over the last few years," Seahawks general manager John Schneider said in a statement.

(Reuters) - The National Football League's salary cap will be increased by nearly $10 million next year to $133 million per team, the league told teams on Friday. The rise is larger than initial estimates and gives teams a little extra breathing room under the cap, which is tied to projected revenue from all of the NFL's commercial agreements for the upcoming season and meets requirements under the Players' Association's Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). The 2014 level represents the highest salary cap set by the league, though that is expected to rise in 2015 when new television contracts are factored into the equation.

One of the biggest weeks of the NFL offseason kicks off Monday with the beginning of the period in which teams may designate a franchise or transition player in order to protect his rights. Then on Wednesday, the NFL community will congregate in Indianapolis for the annual scouting combine that takes place Thursday through Tuesday. The Bears don't have a standout candidate for the franchise tag. After protecting their rights to defensive tackle Henry Melton that way last winter, it would be a surprise if the Bears used the franchise tag between Monday and the March 3 deadline to do so. General manager Phil Emery has expressed his general aversion to tagging a player because it guarantees the player a relatively expensive one-year contract, which limits the team's ability to sign free agents.

Would Louis Delmas help the Bears? -- @Monctonscout from Twitter This was a popular question Thursday when the news spread that the Lions released the veteran safety. Delmas, 26, played in 16 games last season for the first time in his career. He has a degenerative knee condition and that is why he missed eight games in 2012. In fact, some teams took him off their draft board when he was coming out because of the knee issues. Delmas was limited to only Thursday practices last season and a Lions source told me he pretty much only did work in 7-on-7 drills in practice with an eye toward ensuring the former second-round pick from Western Michigan could be on the field Sundays.

OAKLAND, Calif. - Tom Thibodeau isn't picky. "A player," the Bulls coach said when asked at Thursday's morning shootaround whom he would like to see management add. The Bulls have until Feb. 13 to meet the league's minimum requirement of 13 players. Mike James is a candidate to be re-signed. The Bulls are the rare team carrying just 12 players, a depth issue made more pronounced because one of those counted as such is out for the season in Derrick Rose, another is a second-round pick who plays garbage minutes in Erik Murphy and a third has spent much of his career in the Development League in Toko Shengelia . The Luol Deng trade dropped the Bulls below the $71.7 million luxury tax threshold.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Since the Bulls traded Luol Deng, rumors of Carmelo Anthony leaving the Knicks in free agency to play alongside Derrick Rose have flourished. Yahoo! Sports became the latest outlet to report Anthony's interest, quoting a "longtime confidant" of the forward. "Chicago is much more in play for him than L.A. (Lakers)," the source told Yahoo. One issue is even if the Bulls use the amnesty provision on Carlos Boozer, they won't have anywhere close to enough salary-cap space to offer Anthony a maximum contract.

The Bears not only locked up Jay Cutler for seven years with the contract the quarterback signed last week, they created financial flexibility if the team sees an impact defensive player it wants to pursue in free agency. According to multiple sources that have reviewed the contract, the Bears included an "automatic conversion" clause that allows the club to create salary-cap space as needed moving forward. Cutler signed a $126.7 million, seven-year contract that includes $54 million guaranteed.